Looking Back: Classic African Film Posters 1972-1990

The selection of African film posters exhibited in Filmhouse Café for the duration of the festival are from the Collection Nuovi Graffiti D’Africa, presented by the 1st Milan African Film Festival in 1991, to festival guests. It features films from almost 2 decades (1972-1990) from North and South of the Sahara and includes the films of a broad selection of well-known directors: Sembene, Cissé, Bouzid, Ouedraogo, Kabore, Hondo, Chahine and many others. The line up includes classic films and lesser known films and directors to discover, from countries rarely featured in UK African film screenings such as Togo. The posters present a kaleidoscope of styles and images that give visitors some idea of the designs and tastes that have caught the attention of potential cinema-goers on the continent; and they feature actors frequently seen on African screens like Sidiki Bakaba and Gerald Essomba.

A poster collection such as this also provides a map of the spread and a sense of the timeline of production on the continent during that period. For instance – reading purely from the collection of the 50 poster sheets in the whole collection (more than 50 posters, as some sheets include more than 1poster; of which is selection is presented here), it is possible to identify some of the prolific countries during the two decades covered: Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt – notably predominantly Francophone at that time. Countries less visible in filmmaking on the continent at the time, such as Madagascar and Zimbabwe, are also included but significantly none are from South Africa – why? The apartheid era? Could it be as much a reason of a Francophone-Anglophone difference rather than an accident of selection? And what about Portuguese-speaking Africa? Does it say something about where the proliferation of African films were coming from in the 1970s and 1980s, or simply which countries had the resources or were supported in producing publicity materials to engage commercially with their potential markets at home or abroad?

If you are interested in cinema generally, African Cinema in particular, the art and culture of Africa or just poster art – there should be something here for you.

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Exhibition: Negritude Republic

Negritude Republic is a new lifestyle brand driven by South African born, Johannesburg based, designer/illustrator/photographer/art director, Modise BlackDice. Sepeng's creativity stems from the cultural ideology of Afrocentrism; elevating messages of Black Consciousness, rooted in a (re)discovery of the authentic self. His work aims to draw attention to his own African heritage using symbolic references of liberation heroes like Steve Biko and Madiba.

BlackDice has a distinguished aesthetic within his work, mixing notions of traditional South African tribal themes with masculine African portraits and illustrated typography. Each piece nods to a new movement in pan-Africanism and punk rock fused with pop art and hip hop.

This is BlackDice's first solo exhibition in the UK and showcases his diverse approach to design through striking posters.

Modise BlackDice has practiced as a graphic designer since 2010, beginning as an intern at a marketing communications company, Global Mouse, where he is now Art Director. BlackDice is also the winner of Africa in Motion 2014's design competition. He has developed a stunning contemporary visual for the festival which encapsulates this year's festival theme, Looking Back, Reaching Forward, through an Afrocentric illustration contemporary in its graphic style and retrospective in its context.

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Soleils (Suns)

An old man is entrusted with curing a young girl struck by amnesia. In his quest to help her regain her memory and identity he takes her on a healing trip through space and time, to learn about African histories and cultures. They travel from the beautiful Mandingo Empire in 13th century Mali to visit early European philosophers in France and Germany; from King Leopold of the Congo to Robben Island in South Africa, and more. On their journey they meet characters that are both remarkable and enlightened, ignorant and prejudiced, until they reach a text hidden deep in a continent that reveals secrets that were long forgotten. This philosophical road movie is both funny and thrilling. It is a love story between a wise old griot and a young girl that opens up an Africa rarely seen before.

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Udju Azul Di Yonta (Blue Eyes of Yonta)

The Blue Eyes of Yonta is one of the early films to emerge from the small West African country of Guinea-Bissau. It follows the story of Yonta, a young girl who secretly falls in love with a friend of her parents, Vicente, an older man who recently returned home as a hero of the war of independence. However, Vicente has other fish to fry - literally, a consignment of them to be sold - but Yonta has a secret admirer, who declares his interest through anonymous love letters. An endearing, moving story, set against the vibrant backdrop of Bissau, capital of Guinea-Bissau.

This beautiful and rarely-seen film forms part of our focus on “lost African film classics” and will be preceded by a book launch in Filmhouse café at 4pm, of Africa’s Lost Classics: New Histories of African Cinema. This book grew out of screenings of “lost” and little-known early African films at previous AiM festivals, and was edited by Lizelle Bisschoff and David Murphy, both trustees of Africa in Motion, who will be in attendance at the book launch.

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Come Back, Africa

After witnessing first hand the terrors of fascism as a soldier in World War II, director Lionel Rogosin vowed to fight against it wherever and whenever he saw its threats re-emerging. In an effort to expose “what people try to avoid seeing”, Rogosin travelled to apartheid-struck South Africa and secretly filmed Come Back, Africa, which revealed the cruelty and injustice with which black South Africans were treated. A jarring view of a largely concealed environment of injustice, Come Back, Africa honestly and sincerely captures images of the faces of a people oppressed.

Part of our focus on “lost African film classics”, the screening will be followed by a discussion on early South African and anti-apartheid cinema conducted by Lizelle Bisschoff with Dr Jacqueline Maingard, Reader in Film from the University of Bristol as well as an eminent scholar on South African cinema, and author of the book South African National Cinema (2007).

African Storytelling

Fantastically exciting animal stories from across Africa. Join in this interactive and engaging storytelling session with Mara the storyteller. A perfect opportunity to let your imaginations run wild, practice your roars and meet other cheeky monkeys!

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Khumba: A Zebra’s Tale

Khumba, a half-striped zebra, is born into an insular, superstitious herd and is immediately ostracised by the rest of the zebras, except for Tombi, a feisty tomboy. When he is blamed for the drought, Khumba leaves the only home he has ever known in search of the magic waterhole where legend has it, the first zebras got their stripes. It is not all black and white in this colourful animation for the whole family!

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Siliva the Zulu

As part of the festival’s focus on South African cinema and “lost African classics” we are excited to bring this fascinating silent film to Africa in Motion. Siliva the Zulu, directed by Italian explorer and filmmaker Attillio Gatti, is a semi-fictionalised documentary following a story of romantic rivalry. The film portrays Zulu culture through traditional ritual, folklore and witchcraft. Nigerian musician Juwon Ogungbe has composed a brilliant score which he will perform on traditional African and Western instruments during the screening.

The screening will be introduced by eminent South African film scholar Jacqueline Maingard, Reader in Film at the University of Bristol and a trustee of Africa in Motion.

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Farsh Wa Ghata (Rags and Tatters)

Rags and Tatters is a journey of one man’s search for an identity, during the first few days of the Egyptian revolution. Escaping from prison amid the turbulence of the 2011 Tahrir Square demonstrations, a fugitive desperately seeks warmth and shelter in the outer regions of Cairo, in this vivid and captivating portrait of the fallout from the Arab Spring. Searing and slow, and with little dialogue, this film nevertheless speaks volumes of the post-Revolutionary impasse the country has found itself in.

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Last Song Before the War

The Last Song Before the War captures the power, beauty, and uncertain future of Mali’s annual Festival in the Desert, an important music festival showcasing traditional Tuareg music as well as music from around the world. Through unique footage this film take us on a lyrical road trip through Mali, the birthplace of the blues, to the legendary city of Timbuktu and where Grammy-award winning musicians play their hearts out in the dunes of the Sahara. Shockingly, the music and the festival were silenced in 2012 when the violent occupation of Northern Mali by extremists destabilised the entire Sahel region. To date, the festival and hundreds of thousands of refugees still remain in exile.

Adios Carmen – UK Premiere

This nostalgic and ground-breaking film set in 1975, from first-time feature director Mohamed Amin Benamraoui, whose short film Selam and Demetan was a finalist in a previous AiM Short Film Competition, is set in a period of Moroccan history that is not often dealt with in Moroccan cinema: the Spanish occupation. Looking at music, young boys and the power of cinema, and incorporating a Moroccan version of the Romeo and Juliet tale as a sub-plot, it surprises, twists, and ultimately delivers a message of hope for young people and for love.

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Memoire anachronique (Thank God It's Friday) - UK Premiere

In 1999, in the midst of the past, the present and the future, Asmae, a 10-year-old girl, recalls scattered but coherent parts of her life, the life of her uncle Marzouk, and the history of her country, Morocco.

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Fatat el Masnaa (Factory Girl) - UK Premiere

Hiyam, a young factory worker, lives in a lower-middle-class neighbourhood in Cairo along with her co-workers. She is clearly under the spell of Salah, the factory's new supervisor, who has expressed his admiration for her. She believes love can transcend the class differences between them. However, when a pregnancy test is discovered in the factory premises, her immediate family and close friends accuse her of sinning. Hiyam decides not to defend herself and pays an enormous price in a society that fails to accept independent women. Factory Girl examines the changes that take place in her life over the four seasons of the year. From falling in love to facing heartbreak, her life comes around a full circle by the end of the year.

Fatat el Masnaa (Factory Girl) was recently selected as Egypt's contender for Best Foreign Language Film at this year's Academy Awards.

This screening will be preceding by the UK Premiere of Mohammed ben Attia's short film, Selma (2013).

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Electro Chaabi

While Egypt has traditionally been the beating heart of classical Arabic music, a new underground craze is taking over the Arab world’s most populous nation: Electro Chaabi. Inspired by the music played at street parties and weddings, this new populist dance form combines a punk spirit with a hip-hop attitude, set against a furious cascade of drums, bass and electronic vocals. While the beats are designed to get your feet moving, the lyrics, often laced with revolutionary fervour, offer insights into the mindset of today’s restless Egyptian youth.

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March of the Gods: Botswana Metalheads

March of the Gods is a ‘rockumentary’ exploring the life of the Heavy Metal Brotherhood in Botswana and the struggle of a band called Wrust. It follows their journey from formation, to their early performance years, through periods of crisis, to when they eventually ‘make it’ and end up on the stage of SoloMacello Festival in Milan, Italy. March of the Gods is about a musical development that moves hand-in-hand with economic growth based on Western models - a development that contributes to the growth of a very young and optimistic country, yet at the same time threatens to separate the young generations from their roots. March of the Gods is a brotherhood of rockers with a mission: to bring African metal on the global stage.

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White Shadow - Preview Screening

Since 2007 it has become known that albinos in Tanzania, Congo and Kenya have become a commodity – human targets of a lucrative and sinister trade. Witch doctors offer thousands of dollars for albino body parts that are believed to bring good fortune, prosperity and the ability to cure any illness. White Shadow follows the story of Alias, a young albino boy, on the run. After witnessing his father’s murder, his mother sends him away to find refuge in the city, but he soon discovers that wherever he travels the same rules of survival apply. This thought-provoking and beautiful film addresses a little-known topic in a luminous and poignant way.

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African Short Film Night

For a special night of African cinema we are screening a hand-picked selection of African short films, each one from a different country. The cosy atmosphere in Edinburgh's Woodland Creatures promises a night of relaxed banter, when we introduce four short films, all different in genre, style and aesthetic.

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Thongo

Thongo refers to the ancestral spirit that directly connects with the chosen. These spirits, often misunderstood as demonic, have led to many sangomas, or Africans perceived to be sangomas, to be killed in witch hunts.

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Picture Perfect Heist

In Picture Perfect Heist, two South African thieves plan the perfect robbery, but there is something they forgot. Hilarious dialogues and great acting gives you a glimpse of South Africa's talent for comedy.

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Beleh

Beleh from Cameroon shows a mindless husband of a pregnant woman, who wakes up one morning to find himself strangely transformed. Funny in its own way, Beleh entertains while posing questions about gender and cultural differences.

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L'autre Femme

Shortlisted For Africa in Motion Short Film Competition 2014

A housewife in her fifties discovers her true self when she has to accept her husband’s second wife into her home. From Senegal comes this brave film set in the secret world of multiple spouse households. A bold and exquisitely tender film, beautifully acted and sensitively filmed against the backdrop of colourful, beguiling Dakar.

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Four Corners

Cape Town today – home to South Africa’s toughest maximum security prison – Pollsmoor. When Farakhan, a general in one of the century-old Numbers Gangs, is released after 13 years, he wants a quiet life and a ‘river of peace’. But he finds himself in a world more violent than when he left it. Now ruthless street gangs control the ghetto streets, crack and guns are sold openly, and young boys are disappearing, victims of a serial killer. In this turbulent world, Farakhan seeks to make contact with his son, whom he has never known. Four Corners is a high-octane, multi-thread, coming-of-age crime drama set in a unique and volatile South African subculture. At times raw and violent, at times touching and true, the four lives of the characters Farakhan, Leila, Tito and Gasant converge around the boy Ricardo, weaving universal themes of love, loss, kinship, betrayal and redemption.

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Difret - Preview screening

Three hours outside of Addis Ababa, a bright 14-year-old girl is on her way home from school when men on horses swoop in and kidnap her. The brave Hirut grabs a rifle and tries to escape, but ends up shooting her would-be husband. In her village, the practice of abduction into marriage is common and one of Ethiopia’s oldest traditions. Meaza Ashenafi, an empowered and tenacious young lawyer, arrives from the city to represent Hirut and argue that she acted in self-defense. Meaza boldly embarks on a collision course between enforcing civil authority and abiding by customary law, risking the ongoing work of her women’s legal-aid practice to save Hirut’s life.

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Eric Kabera Masterclass

Eric Kabera is a talented Rwandan filmmaker and pioneer of the Rwandan film industry. He has made a number of documentary films to high acclaim. In this masterclass Eric will show clips from his films and talk about his filmmaking practice.

Eric Kabera was born in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1970. He was living in the DRC when the Rwandan genocide started in April 1994 but was still deeply affected by the tragedy. After 1994, Eric started the film production company, Link Media Productions, which produced the first feature-length film on the Rwandan genocide (100 days, directed by Nick Hughes). Motivated by the lack of human resources in audiovisual production in Rwanda, Kabera founded the Rwanda Cinema Centre (RCC) in 2001 with the intention of training and facilitating filmmaking in Rwanda. Kabera’s directorial debut, Keepers of Memory, an unforgettable documentary released ten years after the Rwandan genocide is screening at Africa in Motion this year. Kabera’s contributions to films also include co-producing the critically acclaimed film Africa United, and a number of other short films and documentaries made about Rwanda. He is currently working on his latest documentary Intore, which is set to be released early next year.

Eric Kabera’s visit has been generously supported by the School of Arts and Humanities at the University of Stirling.

Finding Hillywood

Set in the land of a thousand hills, this film follows the blossoming Rwandan film industry - Hillywood. As the country is still healing from the wounds of an ethnic and cultural genocide 20 years ago, cinema has become a way for artists to express themselves and create discussion and debate. This innovative documentary explores the people at the heart of the industry and the valuable role cinema can play in healing a nation. Through this film we discover the pioneers who brought the industry to life, including Eric Kabera, who will be in attendance at AiM.

Screening with the short Mageragere.

The screening has kindly been jointly sponsored by the Centre of African Studies and Global Development Academy, University of Edinburgh, and will be followed by a discussion reflecting on the 20-year commemoration of the Rwandan genocide, and the role of Rwandan cinema in the post-genocide era.

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Beti and Amare

To celebrate Halloween African style, this unique, strangely engaging and genre-blurring film is part fantasy sci-fi, part historical romantic drama. Set in 1936 in an Ethiopia disrupted by World War II, it follows Beti, a young Ethiopian girl who flees Mussolini’s troops to the more peaceful south of the country. As the enemy moves closer and her situation reaches a crisis, an unexpected arrival from the sky irrevocably changes the course of her existence. Alternating between dreamlike and nightmarish, this low-budget but innovative film makes stunning use of landscape and powerful imagery for an intensely visual experience.

Andy Siege (director) and Pascal Dawson (actor) will be present for a Q&A after the screening.

Keepers of Memory

Through eyewitness accounts and gripping footage, acclaimed Rwandan director Eric Kabera’s Keepers of Memory takes the viewer on an emotional and at times harrowing journey into the Rwandan genocide, its survivors, and the memorials created in the victims' honour. The film focuses on the personal accounts of men and women who watch over the sacred burial sites, keeping the memories alive for future generations.

Screening with the short Crossing Lines.

We are pleased to have director Eric Kabera in attendance to talk to the audience after the screening.

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Ngunu Ngunu Kan (Rumours of War) – UK Premiere

Souleymane Touré, aka Soul, is a 26-year-old man who loves slam and hosts a radio show in Timbuktu. After motivating young people to resist the North, he is left for dead by terrorists occupying northern Mali. A traveler on the road to Bamako rescues him and takes him to a hospital for treatment. His story makes ​​the rounds in Mali, the international media talks about it and Soul realizes that he can use the incident to help the crisis, to realize reconciliation. "Ngunu Ngunu kan" is his testimony, enriched with many others’, so that the truth may emerge and Mali may recover from its political crisis. This is the promising directorial debut by Soussaba Cissé, daughter of legendary Malian filmmaker Souleymane Cissé, who plays a small cameo in the film.

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Timbuktu - Preview screening

This latest film from Malian master Abderrahmane Sissako recounts the brief occupation of Timbuktu by militant Islamic rebels. When the multicultural city is invaded by jihadists, they ban music, soccer and virtually any form of pleasure and insist that all women must cover their bodies. The local imam calmly argues against their narrow, ultra-orthodox dogma, but he has little influence over the rag-tag bunch of religious intruders. Beautifully filmed and directed with remarkable control and restraint, Timbuktu confirms Sissako’s status as one the true humanists of contemporary cinema. It is a stunningly realized condemnation of intolerance and the refusal to acknowledge diversity.

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O Grande Kilapy (The Great Kilapy)

This charming film is set in 1960s Lisbon: Angola is under Portuguese colonial rule, and Lisbon is in a state of paranoia over communists and agitators. For Joãozinho, a young Angolan student studying engineering in Lisbon, the sixties are in full swing as he lives a fast and care-free lifestyle. He attracts attention when he takes Carmo, the daughter of one of the Governor’s ministers, as his lover, and falls under surveillance from the local authorities. One more drunken scuffle lands him in jail, before deportation back to Angola. Talented Angolan director Zézé Gamboa (whose first feature film The Hero was screened at a previous AiM festival), explores a different side of Angola’s colonial past with this stylish film.

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Kadjike – UK Premiere

As in the original paradise, the inhabitants of Bissagos archipelago, located in Guinea-Bissau on the west coast of Africa, live according to ancient traditions in harmony with the natural order of the world. Every colour illuminates in this idyllic paradise, and its glistening beauty and natural riches catch the eyes of a gang of drug dealers who occupy the island to make their fortunes. As the medicine man dies and the island falls under the control of the gang, it seems like all hope is lost. Caught between tradition and modernity it is up to one young man to choose between money and his heritage. Kadjike is a stunning first-time feature film by director Sana Na N’Hada from Guinea-Bissau, a country which has delivered only a handful of internationally known film directors.

The screening will be followed by a discussion on the Portuguese-language film industries of Africa with well-known Mozambican film producer Pedro Pimenta and director of the Scottish Documentary Institute and producer Noe Mendelle. The panel discussion will be chaired by Doug Mulliken, a PhD candidate in Film Studies at Glasgow University who hold a masters from the University of Cape Town on Mozambican cinema.

Jogo De Corpo (Body Games)

This film presents a sensual tapestry of combat games from both sides of the Atlantic, a story driven by a need of Mestre Cobra Mansa’s to understand the ancestry of the art form, capoeira, as part of a wider concern with his Afro-Brazilian heritage. The search for roots starts in Rio where, as a 12-year-old street child Cobra found survival and self-esteem in the games of capoeira. He tells how through capoeira he grew into Brazil’s black movement and discovered his identity as an Afro-Brazilian. We journey with him from Brazil to Angola where we meet capoeira masters on both sides of the Atlantic and discover the diverse forms of capoeira that exist today. Through him we discover a story of combat games, dances and music that connect Brazil and Africa from the time of slavery to today.

This screening of Body Games will be followed by a capoeira demonstration and workshop by Scotland-based capoeira group, Mão No Chão.

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Township Café - Capoeira Demonstration and Class with Mão No Chão

Following the screening of Body Games, we welcome the Scotland-based capoeristas Mão No Chão to lead a taster class. Please wear comfortable clothes. Booking is essential to avoid disappointment.

Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian martial art crossing the boundaries of game, dance, ritual and fight. Mão No Chão was created in 2002 by Contra-Mestre Dion to promote the beautiful game of Capoeira Angola in Scotland. Mão no chão means 'hand on earth'.

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Afronauts

Visions of the Future: African Science Fiction Shorts

Inspired by true events, Afronauts tells an alternative history of the 1960s space race. It is July 1969, the night of the moon landing, and a group of Zambian exiles in the desert are trying to beat America to the moon.

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Africa in Motion Short Film Competition

For the seventh consecutive year, AiM has invited African filmmakers to submit short films of up to 30 minutes for our annual Short Film Competition. The shortlist has been selected from over 80 entries, comprising a diverse and captivating collection of work from across the continent.

The Short Film Competition is part of AiM’s commitment to nurturing young African filmmaking talent. The winner is selected by our jury of acclaimed film practitioners and academics and will be announced immediately after the screenings. The audience will also have the opportunity to vote for their favourite film with the Audience Award winner announced on our website at the end of the festival.

Our thanks go to Buni TV for sponsoring the prize money for the competition.

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Silence and I

Shortlisted For Africa in Motion Short Film Competition 2014

Silence and I is a short film about May, a timid young woman struggling to find her voice. May speaks to the world by writing notes and planting them in her work place. Jonathan, her long time love interest, finds the notes which spark his interest. However, May discovers a wedding invitation with Jonathan’s name on it.

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Berea

Shortlisted For Africa in Motion Short Film Competition 2014

Long after his friends and family have moved on, Jewish pensioner Aaron Zukerman remains in his inner-city apartment, his world getting ever smaller and smaller, as the city closes in on his memories and happiness. His focus is on a weekly assignation with a kindly prostitute, for which he prepares days in advance. But when her unexpected replacement arrives one Friday, an initially angry response sparks a chain of events that ultimately changes the way Aaron Zukerman looks at the world.

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Adamt (Listen)

Shortlisted For Africa in Motion Short Film Competition 2014

Adamt is a short film about a young Ethiopian composer and drummer who is struggling with a traumatic experience from his childhood. A spirit appears in his life and inspires him to channel his memories into a new direction. From the director Lazare, a previous Audience Award Winner at the AiM Short Film Competition, comes this stunning and sensitive film.

Harold

Shortlisted For Africa in Motion Short Film Competition 2014

Harold is a dark comedy which explores poignant issues such as isolation, suicide and the search for acceptance through the unlikely friendship between Harold, a young man left tragically alone after the death of his grandmother, and Whynand, a suicidal Afrikaans novelist.

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Miners Shot Down

In August 2012, mineworkers in one of South Africa’s biggest platinum mines began a wildcat strike for better wages. Six days later the police used live ammunition to brutally suppress the strike, killing 34 and injuring many more. Using the point of view of the Marikana miners, Miners Shot Down follows the strike from day one, showing the courageous but isolated fight waged by a group of low-paid workers against the combined forces of the mining company Lonmin, the ANC government and their allies in the National Union of Mineworkers. What emerges is collusion at the top, spiralling violence and the country’s first post-apartheid massacre. South Africa will never be the same again.

The screening will be followed by a discussion with Dr Jana Hönke, Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Edinburgh whose work is linked to Sub-Saharan Africa and well-known Black community activist as well as cultural producer and partner at African Caribbean Cultures Glasgow Graham Campbell. The panel discussion will be conducted by Wolfgang Zeller, Co-ordinator for the African Borderlands Research Network (ABORNE) and expert in African Studies.

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Township Café - Wasasa Comedy Night

Following their success performing at the Edinburgh Fringe and with Kevin Bridges, Wasasa bring their unique fusion of African and Glaswegian humour to Edinburgh!

Wasasa Comedy was created in Glasgow in 2008 by a group of comedy fanatics who noticed an increase in people from various communities moving to Scotland. Its founders, Kalonde Kasengele, Katai Kasengele and Tolu Fakunle, had a vision of using comedy as a vehicle for promoting integration and diversity. Even the name Wasasa is ironic - it is a slang word in the Zambian language Bemba meaning “you are not funny”.

Future Sound of Mzansi

Directed by performance artist Spoek Mathambo and filmmaker Lebogang Rasethaba, this documentary aims to explore, express and interrogate South Africa’s cultural landscape through the vehicle of electronic music. The film engages with a potent range of pioneers sculpting the sounds of things to come. We swim in the sounds of deep house, glitch hop, sghubu sapitori, durban qhum, dubstep and shangaan electro. In a country still steeped in poverty, crime and injustice, young South Africans party like their lives depend on it. The groove is thick and infectious and the future looks blindingly beautiful.

This screening event includes Mandela Day Shorts, commissioned by British Council Connect ZA and The Space.

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Connect ZA & The Space’s ‘Mandela Day Shorts’

To celebrate Mandela Day on 18 July, The Space and British Council Connect ZA co-commissioned three new moving image artworks from six emerging, South African and British visual artists, animators and musicians, called ‘Mandela Day Shorts’. 'Mandela Day Shorts' brought together a British and South African creative, one specialising in visual art or animation and one in music, to collaboratively create a moving image and sound artwork between 90 seconds and 3 minutes in length. Three works in total have been commissioned from Kent Andreasen (South Africa), Lebohang Kganye (South Africa), Spoek Mathambo (UK), Knox-om-Pax (UK), Auntie Flo (UK) and Esa Williams (South Africa/UK).

The project is part of SA-UK Seasons 2014 & 2015 which is a partnership between the Department of Arts and Culture, South Africa and the British Council.

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Felix

13-year-old Felix Xaba dreams of becoming a saxophonist like his late father, but his mother Lindiwe thinks jazz is the devil’s music. When Felix leaves his township friends to take up a scholarship at an elitist private school, he defies his mother and turns to two aging members of his father’s old band to help him prepare for the school jazz concert. Felix is a family-friendly film of a deeply moving story about perseverance in pursuing dreams and developing one’s talent.

This screening is held in partnership with Into Film, an education charity that puts film at the heart of the educational and personal development of children and young people across the UK.

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1994: The Bloody Miracle

As South Africa celebrates its 20th anniversary of the advent of democracy in 1994, it is difficult to believe the ‘Mandela miracle’ nearly didn’t happen. In an orgy of countrywide violence, some were intent on derailing the first free elections. Now, for the first time, those responsible for countless deaths and widespread mayhem explain how they nearly brought South Africa to its knees. 1994: The Bloody Miracle is a chilling look at what these hard men did to thwart democracy, and at how they have now made an uneasy peace with the ‘Rainbow Nation’ in their own different ways.

We are delighted to have director Meg Rickards present at the festival to join in a discussion of the film after the screening.

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Nelson Mandela: The Myth & Me

Filmmaker Khalo Matabane was an idealistic teenager with fantastical ideas about a post-apartheid era of freedom and justice when Nelson Mandela, the great icon of liberation, was released from prison. In a personal odyssey involving an imaginary letter to Mandela and conversations with politicians, world leaders, intellectuals and artists such as Henry Kissinger, Albie Sachs, Ariel Dorfman, Nuruddin Farah, Pumla Gqola and the Dalai Lama, Matabane interrogates the meaning of freedom, reconciliation and forgiveness in a world of conflict and inequality, alternating his discussions between erudite scholars and survivors of apartheid.

We are delighted to have the director Khalo Matabane in attendance for a Q&A after the screening.

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Afrovibes performance - The Soil

This three member a cappella vocal group combines a stunning mix of musical styles; township jazz, hip-hop, afro-Pop and afro-Soul. No instruments, no music lessons - just their own voices and local inspiration - that’s all these 20-somethings had during their Soweto childhood. The group’s music is underpinned by a great rhythmic vocal bass line and beatboxing while the other two voices provide the ever-changing top lines.

The award-winning, platinum-selling trio comes to Afrovibes 2014 direct from the Apollo Theater in Harlem. Afrovibes music nights are famed for their energy and great sounds – and this year will be no exception!

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Hear Me Move

The endearing and highly entertaining Hear Me Move tells the story of Muzi, the son of an amazing pantsula dancer, who embarks on a journey of self-discovery in order to learn the truth about his father’s death and come to terms with his own identity. But will Muzi embrace his destiny and become the man he is meant to be? Hear Me Move is an exciting new South African feature film, creating a local challenge to a genre that includes such well-loved films as Fame and Step Up.

This film is screening with the short film Boys of Soweto.

The screening of Hear Me Move will be followed by the festival closing party in the Township Café. Everyone is welcome!

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Edinburgh Closing Party

This year our festival closing party will take place in the Township Café in Summerhall, and will be an evening of dance inspired by the highly anticipated South African feature film Hear Me Move. The closing party kicks off with traditional West African live performances from Ayawara. Founded over 10 years ago, this Afro percussion and dance group produces a fascinating ensemble of rhythms originally played during celebrations, work and initiation rites. The dance and the music are inextricably linked, and are an integral part of their culture and social structure. Bringing you to the dance floor will be a mix of afro-centric beats from the Edinburgh-based Swank ‘n’ Jams. Their diverse and exciting sets have made them firm favourites in Scotland with the Eden Festival and The Kelburn Garden Party.

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They Are We

Can a family separated by the transatlantic slave trade sing and dance its way back together? In Perico, Cuba, an Afro-Cuban group has kept alive songs and dances that their ancestors, known only as Josefa, brought aboard the slave ship from Africa. They preserved them proudly despite slavery, poverty and repression. Through years of searching, filmmaker Emma Christopher tried to find their origins. Then, in a remote village in Sierra Leone, people watched a recording of the Cubans’ festival joined in their songs, and said joyously, 'They Are We!'. Finally, the Africans said, their lost but never forgotten family was coming home. This is a movie of survival against the odds and how shared humanity can ultimately triumph over any number of years’ separation.

Lansana Mansaray, director of photography and researcher on the film will join us for a Q&A after the screening.

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Visions of the Future: African Science Fiction Shorts

As part of the BFI Sci-fi season, Days of Fear and Wonder, we are screening five African sci-fi shorts, exploring futuristic and fantastic alternative futures for the continent. The shorts will also tour to three further venues across the UK. See: bfi.org.uk/sci-fi for further details. The screenings will be followed by a discussion.

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Robots of Brixton

Visions of the Future: African Science Fiction Shorts

Brixton has degenerated and is inhabited by London’s new robot workforce – robots built and designed to carry out all of the tasks humans no longer want to do. The mechanical population of Brixton has rocketed, resulting in cheap and unplanned housing. When the police invade the space, the strained and antagonistic relationship between the two sides explodes into an outbreak of violence echoing that of 1981.

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Jonah

Visions of the Future: African Science Fiction Shorts

Set in Zanzibar, Mwbana and his best friend Juma are two beach hustlers with big dreams. These dreams become reality when they accidentally photograph a gigantic fish leaping out of the sea and their small town blossoms into a tourist hot-spot. Jonah is a sci-fi and fantasy-inspired visually stunning and ambitious short film combining live action and animation.

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Pumzi

Visions of the Future: African Science Fiction Shorts

Hailed as Kenya’s first science fiction film, Pumzi imagines a dystopian future 25 years after water wars have devastated the world. East African survivors of the ecological disaster are isolated in their contained communities, but a young woman in possession of a germinating seed struggles against the governing council to plant the seed in the earth’s ruined surface.